Melissa Sue Anderson left in episode 1 of Season 8 ("The Reincarnation of Nellie Part 1"). She said that it her choice to go, as she felt she wasn’t getting any storylines. Couple this with all her storylines being cut following her return to Walnut Grove.

I've also noticed this:

1) She was removed from the opening credits from that episode 2) She left the series near the beginning of the episode in a really half hearted way. 3) While she was removed from the opening credits, Linwood Boomer was given guest star billing at the beginning of the episode. However, Melissa Sue Anderson is actually credited at the end, sandwiched between two actors playing bit parts.

Wow, interesting. I've been watching the show daily on UP-TV and I think I've already gone past Season 8 but I'm going to check tomorrow and see.

I think she became disappointed with her character's limited role on the show. I believed she perceived that her character was just "there". And I don't think the show wanted her to have a miracle moment and have her blindness cured.

I think Melissa expected to win an Emmy for her accurate depiction of a visually impaired character.

If you read Allison's book, no she was not liked by any of the kids on the cast.

If you read Allison's book, no she was not liked by any of the kids on the cast.

Not just Allison's book, but Melissa Gilbert's book as well. And the guy who played Mary's love interest in Season 4 said this (http://littlehousedocumentary.weebly.com/radames-pera-aka-john-edwards.html):


I did my best to put her at ease with me by trying to develop some authentic camaraderie we could share on-screen, but she would have none of it. The combination of being rejected by my peers at "regular school" and her rejecting my friendship in the working environment eventually got to me, and one day I lost my patience with her while in the little (and actual) school room - I needed to borrow a pencil for some math work I had, and she had 3 sharp ones next to her tablet, so I asked to borrow one and she pointedly said "No." I replied, under my breath, "What a b****..." The other kids (about 4 of them: Melissa Gilbert (Laura) and Alison Arngrim included) all contained their reactions ("OMG!" etc.), but were astonished I had said what we all thought. Miss Anderson distinctly had something lodged between her butt-cheeks, but I was the only one foolish enough to tell her so. Of course, this partially led to me getting written out of the show.

i didn't like her either

Alison gives a theory why Melissa Sue Anderson was not liked. She believes her "Hollywood mom" kept control over her and made her feel superior to everyone else. She said just once for one night the cast of kids went out without parents and Melissa actually smiled and had fun. As soon as the mom came around to pick her up, her demeanor completely changed. She was so disliked that Alison said there was going to be a fight between Nellie and Mary in an episode. The producers edited the scene because they feared the fight would not be acting and someone would get hurt. Yes, they hated her so much. Even at Michael Landon's funeral, Alison approached Melissa and she got a sour face and cold shoulder. The craziest part is on the first day of shooting Melissa Gilbert came over to Alison's dressing room and warned her how mean Melissa Sue Anderson was. Now just think how young Gilbert was and how bad she must have been treated to say such a thing on the first day.

Alison gives a theory why Melissa Sue Anderson was not liked. She believes her "Hollywood mom" kept control over her and made her feel superior to everyone else. She said just once for one night the cast of kids went out without parents and Melissa actually smiled and had fun. As soon as the mom came around to pick her up, her demeanor completely changed. She was so disliked that Alison said there was going to be a fight between Nellie and Mary in an episode. The producers edited the scene because they feared the fight would not be acting and someone would get hurt. Yes, they hated her so much. Even at Michael Landon's funeral, Alison approached Melissa and she got a sour face and cold shoulder. The craziest part is on the first day of shooting Melissa Gilbert came over to Alison's dressing room and warned her how mean Melissa Sue Anderson was. Now just think how young Gilbert was and how bad she must have been treated to say such a thing on the first day.
It couldn't have been the first day because the pilot was filmed before the Ingalls family moved to Walnut Grove, and before Nellie was on the show. But, yes, it's clear MSA was horrible from the very beginning.

Good to know they had at least one happy day together. So sad that was it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Sue_Anderson

She stayed married to one husband for over thirty years. That’s always a sign of “good character”. Looks like she did lots of other roles besides Little House and maybe everyone else was jealous.

Now Karen Grassle is unloading on Melissa Sue. Stating that Melissa Sue gave her the cold shoulder.
https://technotrenz.com/entertainment/karen-grassle-recalls-when-melissa-sue-anderson-withdrew-from-me-on-little-house-on-the-prairie-1503560.html

Now Karen Grassle is unloading on Melissa Sue. Stating that Melissa Sue gave her the cold shoulder.
https://technotrenz.com/entertainment/karen-grassle-recalls-when-melissa-sue-anderson-withdrew-from-me-on-little-house-on-the-prairie-1503560.html

MSA gave everyone the cold shoulder. I'm not sure she had a warm shoulder.

Melissa Sue Anderson was the Nellie Olsen of the set.

Melissa Sue Anderson was the Nellie Olsen of the set.
According to Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson tried to push her off the wagon.

I like the story from Alison's book where there was supposed to be a fight between Mary and Nellie. However producers felt the fight could turn into something real and violent because of the tension. So they toned down the scene to a simple argument.

Yes folks, that's how bad it was. So bad that on the first day of shooting Melissa Gilbert at her young age came running to Alison's dressing room to warn her how nasty Melissa Sue was and gave her a warning. Good grief. Melissa Gilbert was only a small child.

I like the story from Alison's book where there was supposed to be a fight between Mary and Nellie. However producers felt the fight could turn into something real and violent because of the tension. So they toned down the scene to a simple argument.

Yeah, that's crazy levels of aggression! :eek:


Yes folks, that's how bad it was. So bad that on the first day of shooting Melissa Gilbert at her young age came running to Alison's dressing room to warn her how nasty Melissa Sue was and gave her a warning. Good grief. Melissa Gilbert was only a small child.

It's very sad. :(

Alison's book is really positive. She does not really trash Melissa Sue till the dis at Michael Landon's funeral. Alison kept an open mind and wanted to engage her. She gives her theory that Melissa was so nasty and it was because of her mom. She writes there was one night where all the kids went out together and got along but as soon as Melissa's mother came to pick her up, the nastiness came back and stayed. Even at Michael Landon's funeral Alison went over to talk to Melissa and praise her baby, etc and Melissa was rude to her.

Radames Peres wife had the following to say about Melissa Sue.

Another example of Melissa Sue's bitchy personality when Alison approached her about playing Backgammon and Alison didn't know the rules and asked if MSA could teach her.

The following was MSA's response. “I said I didn’t know how to play and asked if it was difficult. She looked at me in utter disgust and said, ‘No, it figures you wouldn’t know how. You’ve always been a tad backwards.”

As much as Arngrim tried to laugh the unkind remark off, she noted that Anderson proceeded and that she “wasn’t laughing.”

“‘No,’ Anderson continued coldly, ‘actually, I’d say you’re a lot backwards. In fact, you’re quite stupid.’

“Ah. So apparently she didn’t feel like teaching me to play backgammon. And as I didn’t feel like finding out what she was going to say next, I got the hell out of there.”


https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/little-house-on-the-prairies-nellie-oleson-actor-says-this-cast-member-was-the-real-bully-on-the-show.html/

It's too bad to hear this. I liked Melissa on the show. If Melissa has apologized for her behavior when she was young people should let it go. everybody i think has regrets from behavior when they were young. I have been more disappointed to hear about Michael Landon's behavior since he was a grown up.

I do think that a few of the members stated one thing that is really important here about MSA. Sure her behavior on set was not nice, but a few pointed out that her mother was also quite controlling when she was a child and made her feel as if she was better than the other child actors. This was evident by the statement that Alison brought up when the cast of kids went out alone and MSA behavior was quite different until her mom came around to pick her up. I have never been in this line of work before, but have heard many cases where there were controlling parents.

There were stories that a lot of the charactors did not really care for their "love interests" on the set Has Linwood Boomer, (Adam) ever said anything problematic about working with Mellisa Sue Anderson?

The best connections were between Nellie and Percival. Allison Argrin and Steve Tracy became best friends and kept that relationship long after the series ended.

Katherine McGregor was like a mother to everyone on the set. Allison and she remained close after the series, as did Katherine and Richard Bull.

Charlotte Stewart who played Ms. Beedle had nothing but kind words to say about Melissa Sue Anderson.

In an interview, MSA stated that she was a very shy and introverted person who did her own thing and really wanted to have control of things. She was not used to the outgoing family togetherness that LHOTP portrayed. She went along with it for the money, that was always my theory. And if her mother was controlling, that certainly could have rubbed-off on her.

She said, that the series really started going downhill after "Mary" went blind. She thought it started out well about a nice farm family and their simple issues. But after Mary went blind, according to MSA, the series became a "Tragedy of the Week." and it moved away from the more good-hearted nature of the show. And that was when MSA began to want out of the series.

Jack

MSA was and is much more beautiful than the real life Mary and if the Landon series was being made today, that aspect would probably be a target for criticism from our friends on the progressive side of the aisle?

There were stories that a lot of the charactors did not really care for their "love interests" on the set Has Linwood Boomer, (Adam) ever said anything problematic about working with Mellisa Sue Anderson?

The best connections were between Nellie and Percival. Allison Argrin and Steve Tracy became best friends and kept that relationship long after the series ended.

Katherine McGregor was like a mother to everyone on the set. Allison and she remained close after the series, as did Katherine and Richard Bull.

Charlotte Stewart who played Ms. Beedle had nothing but kind words to say about Melissa Sue Anderson.

In an interview, MSA stated that she was a very shy and introverted person who did her own thing and really wanted to have control of things. She was not used to the outgoing family togetherness that LHOTP portrayed. She went along with it for the money, that was always my theory. And if her mother was controlling, that certainly could have rubbed-off on her.

She said, that the series really started going downhill after "Mary" went blind. She thought it started out well about a nice farm family and their simple issues. But after Mary went blind, according to MSA, the series became a "Tragedy of the Week." and it moved away from the more good-hearted nature of the show. And that was when MSA began to want out of the series.

Jack

Tons of people had problems with MSA. That included the regular cast and guest casts.

MSA was and is much more beautiful than the real life Mary and if the Landon series was being made today, that aspect would probably be a target for criticism from our friends on the progressive side of the aisle?

Bull****.

Bull****.

what that MSA was prettier than RL Mary or that some people might complain?

I was thinking of the "trans characters played by trans actors", "Anne Frank should be played by a Jew" etc.

The problem with LHOTP is that MSA was a much better actress than MG, but because MG played the title character, LHOTP was about Laura Ingalls.

When I watched LHOTP I wanted to see more of Mary and was tired of the majority of the plots being about Laura. But I understood, that it was the real life Laura Ingalls that wrote the book.

As for what MSA behaviour was when she was younger, her former co-stars are talking about it to sell their books.

As an adult, I did see more of MSA on other shows than I did of MG.

Of course as a person MSA was not better than anyone else, but as a child actress she was the best on the show.

Also, I think MSA got her first kiss from Bobby Brady.

what that MSA was prettier than RL Mary or that some people might complain?

I was thinking of the "trans characters played by trans actors", "Anne Frank should be played by a Jew" etc.

What does her beauty have to do with her immature and acidic behavior?

The problem with LHOTP is that MSA was a much better actress than MG, but because MG played the title character, LHOTP was about Laura Ingalls.

When I watched LHOTP I wanted to see more of Mary and was tired of the majority of the plots being about Laura. But I understood, that it was the real life Laura Ingalls that wrote the book.

As for what MSA behaviour was when she was younger, her former co-stars are talking about it to sell their books.

As an adult, I did see more of MSA on other shows than I did of MG.

Of course as a person MSA was not better than anyone else, but as a child actress she was the best on the show.


Also, I think MSA got her first kiss from Bobby Brady.


Many people who never written books talked about her bad behavior on the set. She was the real Nellie Olsen. Most of the other cast members get together for fan events reunion. MSA does LHOP reunions by herself. That should tell you something.

Even Karen Grassle, her TV mother said she gave her the cold shoulder after a while.

I'm sorry. I have a ABI. my thoughts get dis jointed.

Maybe Michael Landon should have fired her around Season 3 or 4 and replaced her if she was such a pain in the ass to work with.

Maybe Michael Landon should have fired her around Season 3 or 4 and replaced her if she was such a pain in the ass to work with.

Well - the PITA male on LHOTP possibly didn't want to set a precedent for NBC's use by firing the female PITA..

Well - the PITA male on LHOTP possibly didn't want to set a precedent for NBC's use by firing the female PITA..

They got Melissa Sue Anderson to quit by giving her tragic story line after tragic story line.

Rademus Pera (John Jr.) discusses his time on Little House starting at the 1:03 mark of this interview. Included was his time dealing with Melissa Sue Anderson (none of the other kids liked her). The host (Ike Eisenmann from Return to Witch Mountain) also reveals his strange encounter with Melissa Sue when he appeared in an episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_OsKDQPXrM

Michael Landon worked out his childhood bed wetting issues through Sidney and Lindsay.